| Woman trampled at Wal-Mart made several previous injury
claims Wire and Staff Report Last update: 05 December 2003 |
|
ORANGE CITY -- A woman who was trampled by Wal-Mart shoppers at a
holiday sale has previously filed 16 injury claims, including several
against the world's largest retailer, a television station reported
Thursday.
Patricia VanLester, 41, is a former Wal-Mart employee who has received
thousands of dollars from the department store giant in injury and
workers' compensation settlements, according to WKMG, Orlando's CBS
affiliate.
VanLester was first in line to grab a $29.87 DVD player at 6 a.m. Nov.
28 when she was knocked to the ground by a frenzy of shoppers at the
Wal-Mart Supercenter on Veterans Memorial Parkway.
She spent the weekend in the hospital, and her sister, Linda Ellzey,
said she suffered a seizure and other injuries caused by the stampede of
shoppers.
"We're going to investigate this claim as thoroughly as we have
investigated the other 10 claims that this woman and her sister have
brought against us in the past," Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogleman told The
Associated Press Thursday night.
Fogleman said he had no details about the past settlements between
VanLester and Wal-Mart. A woman who answered the phone at VanLester's
house Thursday night declined comment.
Ellzey said she and her sister went to the Orange City store about 3:30
a.m. to buy ink for a computer printer. They decided to remain until 6
a.m., when the bargain DVD players went on sale, so Ellzey could buy one
as a Christmas gift for their mother.
VanLester was already wearing a neck brace from a previous accident,
Ellzey said.
"I was first in line right by the DVDs and my sister was leaning up
against the pallet," Ellzey said that afternoon. "Those people were
vultures. They were like a herd of elephants."
VanLester did not get the DVD player but the store offered to put it on
layaway for her.
VanLester's attorney, David L. Sweat, told the television station his
client has not filed a formal injury claim against Wal-Mart regarding last
week's incident. Sweat did not return an after-hours telephone message on
Thursday.
According to rescue workers, VanLester was knocked unconscious and
flown by helicopter from Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in DeLand to
Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. She was released from the
hospital Monday night.
Her mother, Barbara Rastellini, said her daughter was bruised and sore
but did not suffer any broken bones.
"She's very lucky to be alive," Rastellini said, adding VanLester did
not want to be interviewed.
VanLester's history of previous claims dates back to at least 1987,
when she won an undisclosed cash settlement after allegedly slipping and
falling at a Volusia County bowling alley. She also collected more than
$1,800 in workers' compensation claims for slip-and-fall incidents at a
Publix supermarket and another Wal-Mart store in 1995 and 1996,
respectively.
She claimed she slipped on a puddle of hand lotion in 1991 while
shopping at an Orange City Walgreen's pharmacy, causing "permanent injury,
disability, disfigurement (and) mental anguish." The case was thrown out
after a 10-minute court hearing.
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